130 SWALLOW AND SWALLOW-LIKE BIRDS. 



about to migrate. It arrives in England usually in 

 the latter half of March, and departs as a rule not 

 later than October. 



SWALLOW 7i inches ; black above ; breast-band black ; 



tail deeply forked. Cries ' Wheet ! wheet ! ' 

 HOUSE-MARTIN 5i inches; black above, save lower 



back, which is white ; no breast-band. Call, ' Pri ! ' 

 SWIFT 7 inches ; appears wholly black ; wings long and 



slender. Call, a shrill scream. 



HOUSE-MARTIN. Plate 58. Length, 5| inches. 

 Head, nape, and upper back blue-black ; wings and 

 tail dull black ; lower back and under parts white. 

 Summer migrant. 



Eggs. 4-5, elongated, pure white; '79* '52 inch 

 (plate 126). 



Nest. A mud shell with opening at the top, lined 

 with straw and feathers, and placed under bridges 

 and the eaves of houses and barns, or beneath some 

 rocky projection on cliffs. 



Distribution. General. 



The House-Martin is the bird that affixes the mud 

 shell of its nest beneath the eaves of country houses 

 and barns, sometimes alone, sometimes in lines of 

 fifty or sixty nests. It may be found nesting also on 

 the face of rock-cliffs, its original habitat. Like the 

 Swallow, the Martin is nearly always on the wing, 

 roving up, down, and about, capturing its food while 

 flying, and emitting from time to time a high-pitched 

 ' Pri ! ' quite unlike the notes of other birds of the 

 Swallow kind. When on the wing, it may be distin- 



